Chapter 12 The third labyrinth-2

During my discussion with Memir Fiseha on Tana Cheeks, the old monk made a statement before his main point that aroused my curiosity.Now, in the library of the Ethiopian Research Institute, I intend to investigate further the meaning of these words. These words speak of the route of the Ark of the Covenant into Ethiopia.The monk said that after the Ark was stolen from Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, it was first taken to Egypt, and then to Lake Tana along the Nile and Tekeze Rivers. Although I have done some research in the past few months, I still understand one thing: I have never seriously considered the route of Menelik and his party.Therefore, I would like to see how "King's Glory" talks about this issue.I also want to find out if there is any contradiction in the book with the old monk's statement that the Ark of the Covenant was first placed on the island of Tana Chikes for 800 years before being sent to the city of Axum.

In this great epic, the only relevant information I can find is in Chapter 84.That chapter said that after Menelik and his party entered Ethiopia, they brought the Ark of the Covenant to a place called "Sister Deborah Mark".Curiously, Axum is not mentioned at all in the book.Wherever "Sister Deborah Mark" is, it is very clear and unequivocal that it was the first place where the Ark of the Covenant was placed in Ethiopia.At one stroke, it resolves a historical factual contradiction that has plagued me since 1983: the city of Axum was not built until about 800 years after Menelik completed his journey back to Ethiopia.

Several of my previous sources have told me that Axum was the final destination of Menelik's trip, and that the Ark of the Covenant was placed in Axum from the beginning - a claim that certainly does not fit history.However, I now see that there is no such statement in "The Glory of the King", but only that Menelik and his party brought the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to "Sister Deborah Mark". I know that the word "Debra" means "mountain" and "Makeda" is the name of the Queen of Sheba in Ethiopian legend.Therefore, "Sister Deborah Mark" means "Sister Mark Mountain", that is, "Queen of Sheba Mountain".

In the brief description of "King's Glory", I can't find any suggestion that this "Queen of Sheba Mountain" is actually Tana Cheeks Island.In the same vein, however, I see no evidence that it could not be the island. For further clues, I consulted the authoritative Chronicle of the Geographical Expedition of Lake Tana, which took place in the 1930s.From this I learned that the name "Cheeks" was given to the island relatively recently (in honor of a Christian saint).The survey records said: "Before Ethiopia converted to Christianity, Tana Chikes Island was called Deborah Sehel Island." I immediately had a question: what does "Sehel" (Sehel) mean?

To find out what it means, I consulted several scholars who were reading in the library at the time.They told me that "Sehail" is a Jezewen word from the verb "to forgive". I asked: "The correct translation of the full name of Debra Sehel should be the mountain of forgiveness, is my understanding correct?" "Yes," they replied, "exactly." This is really interesting.I remember very well that in Wolfram von Eschenbach's "Parsifal" the location of the Castle of the Grail (and the Temple of the Holy Grail) is at the "Munsalvaesche" (Mountain of Salvation - Translator's Note) .There has been some debate over the exact interpretation of the word, but more than one Wolfram Studies expert agrees that behind it is "Mons Salvationis, the biblical Mons Salvationis, the mountain of salvation."

There is no doubt that "forgiveness" and "salvation" are connected in meaning, because in a religious sense, to obtain "salvation", one must first obtain "forgiveness".What's more, there is such a sentence in Psalm 130 of the "Old Testament Psalms": "Sovereign Lord, if you investigate iniquity, who can stand? But with you is the grace to forgive...O Israel, look to Yahweh, for he is merciful and abounding in salvation." (verses 3 and 7) "Redemption" is of course a synonym for "salvation".So I couldn't help but wonder if Wolfram's "Mountain of Redemption" might be somehow related to Ethiopia's "Mountain of Forgiveness"—which is now called "Tana Cheeks".

I fully understand that this kind of speculation can only be tentative, and from "Debra Sehel" to "Munsalvaesche" is actually a bold leap.Even so, after studying Parsifal many times, I can hardly forget one plot: the mysterious chalice (“smooth and round, as if lathe-machined”) sits on a lake and is probably It's on an island in a lake. It also seems not unrelated that Ethiopian Orthodox and Falasha places of worship are traditionally circular.The vast majority of churches built by the Templars (including some that survive today, such as the 12th-century Temple Church in Fleet Street, London), were circular.So I feel that there is a connection between all of this, and that it would be unwise to ignore it entirely (and likewise, it would be unwise to overemphasize it).

At the same time, I also need to consider another more conclusive connection, that is, the connection between "Deborah Sechel" and "Sister Deborah Mark".The previous name of Tana Cheeks (island) already indicates that Ethiopian island names all have the prefix "Debra" (meaning "mountain").Tana Cheeks Island seemed to be a mountain rising from the lake, and when I first saw it, it really looked like a mountain.This of course does not prove that "King's Glory" said that the Ark of the Covenant was taken to the Queen of Sheba Mountain, it must be referring to Deborah Sehail". But I still think that it at least believes that this island may be the place where the Ark of the Covenant place.

Having proved this point, I continued to consider the route of Menelik and his party.I had always assumed that they traveled by ship—that is, from the port of Solomon in Ezungbeir (now the port of Eilat in the Arabian Gulf), along the Red Sea to the coast of Ethiopia.Now, as I study the King's Glory which the librarian provided me, I find that my previous assumptions were completely wrong.Menelik's long journey from Jerusalem always had a caravan and was entirely overland. But how did their overland journey go? In describing their trek, "King's Glory" uses the way of telling imaginary legends, dreamlike, full of miracles, and otherworldly, and it is difficult to find recognizable place names and geographical features.Nonetheless, some important specific details are mentioned.

After leaving Jerusalem, the travelers first went to Gaza (on Israel's Mediterranean coast, where there is still a city of the same name).Starting from Gaza, they probably followed the well-known traditional caravan route, crossed the northern edge of the Sinai Peninsula, entered Egypt, and soon came to a large river. "Let us alight," they said here, "for we have seen the rivers of Ethiopia. Before us is the Tekeze, which flows from Ethiopia and waters the valleys of Egypt." Judging from this passage, it is obvious that Menelik and his party were still in the "river valley of Egypt" when they said these words, and they were probably not far south of the modern city of Cairo.Therefore, the river they got off could only be the Nile.But to my astonishment, they recognized the river at once as the Tekeze, and the monk on Tana Chikes had mentioned this river in Ethiopia to me.

I borrowed a map from the librarian and traced the flow of the Tekeze with my fingers.I discovered that the river originated in the central plateau of Abyssinia, not far from the ancient city of Lalibela.From there it winds northwest through the Himeon Mountains to join the Atbara River in Sudan.Finally, the Tekze River joined the Nile hundreds of miles north of the modern city of Khartoum, which lies at the confluence of the Blue and White Niles. Looking at the map, I immediately discovered two other situations: first, from the perspective of Ethiopians, the Nile River can easily be regarded as an extension of the Tekeze River; Following the Nile and then the Tekeze to Ethiopia is a very logical route.There is another road that goes further south, through the harsh deserts of Sudan, to the point where the two Niles meet, and then follows the Blue Nile into the Ethiopian highlands.However, since the Blue Nile had to make a big bend to the south and then flow back north to Lake Tana, this would add a long unnecessary trek to Menelik and his party.In contrast, the route along the Tekeze River would probably save them thousands of miles. The map also clearly shows another situation: if a group of travelers follow the Tekeze River towards its source, then, at the end of their journey, they will reach a place, which is about 1000 meters east of Lake Tana. Shore less than 70 miles.And Tana Cheeks Island is not far from the east shore of Lake Tana.In this way, there is no mystery about the legend that the island was the first place where the Ark of the Covenant was placed in Ethiopia—if Menelik and his party looked around to find a safe and hidden place for the Ark of the Covenant, then, Tana Cheeks was indeed their best choice. three people in the same boat The next morning Richard Pankhurst and I went to Lake Ziwai.Accompanying us was my old friend Johannes Berhanu, general manager of the state-run National Tourism Organization (NTO).Just before 6:00 am, the three of us met in front of the NTO office. Johannes was very thoughtful and had a "Toyota" off-road vehicle and driver ready. Twenty minutes later, we had left the slums and skyscrapers of Addis Ababa and were driving south on the open road through the town of "Deborah Zeit" and into the heart of the Great Rift Valley. Not counting the man-made "Koka" reservoir, Lake Ziway is the northernmost of several lakes along the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia.Its surface is about 200 square miles, and its water reaches a depth of about 15 feet.The oval-shaped lake is dotted with small islands and the reed-covered marshes on its shores are ideal habitat for storks, pelicans, mallard ducks, wild geese and osprey – as well as large herds of hippos. We drove two hours from Addis Ababa to our destination, which is a small pier on the southern shore of Lake Ziwai.We are told here that the Department of Fisheries owns and operates several boats, one of which will certainly be available for our use at minimum hire.But all the big boats were down to fish, as was to be expected.Only one small motorboat was available, and the engines on the loading deck were out of fuel. We had lengthy negotiations with officials from the Fisheries Department.He explained that there was no room for Richard and Johannes in the motorboat.Me and a driver.Deborah Zion Island (I heard the Ark of the Covenant was sent to the island in the 10th century AD for safety) is far away, and it takes at least three hours to drive to the island in this poor boat .What's more, there is no awning on the boat, and we will be burned by the sun.So, would we like to come back tomorrow when a more suitable boat can be arranged for us. Johannes flatly rejected the suggestion.He said that Professor Pankhurst and Mr. Hancock had some important appointments in Addis Ababa tomorrow, and those appointments could not be changed under any circumstances.Therefore, we must go to Deborah Zion Island today. We discussed for a while, and finally, we finally formed a team on the small pier and tentatively boarded the small motorboat one by one.We sat down along the side of the boat, and managed to get on board, but our combined weight made the boat very deep. How to do it?Fisheries officials seemed hesitant, but eventually agreed to listen to us.We rented this dinghy, and they can provide a driver for free.However, the fuel problem must be solved by ourselves.Can we send our driver with a drum to the nearest town to the pier to buy some fuel? We did.Then we waited a long, completely unexplainable long time.An hour passed.Another hour passed.I grew more and more impatient, and stood at the end of the small pier, looking at a few crane birds: those big, bald, miserable-looking birds were obviously descended from pterosaurs.Our driver finally returned with the necessary fuel just after 11am.We started the engines on deck and off we went. We moved very slowly, across the rippling waters of the lake, past one wooded island after another.The reed-covered shoreline gradually receded and finally disappeared behind us.There was no shadow of Deborah Zion Island on the lake.Now, the sun was high above our heads, and the boat was leaking, small but noticeable. At this point, Johannes Berhanu gave us a very timely reminder that there are many hippos in the lake (hippos, he says, are "very aggressive and not to be trusted").I saw he was wearing a lifejacket, which he must have gotten before we started for the little pier.Meanwhile, Richard Pankhurst's nose is taking on a lobster-like finish.Fun pink.And I... I'm gritting my teeth, trying to ignore my full bladder. Where the hell is that damned island?I glanced impatiently at my watch and suddenly had a sense of the comical, hazy but definite.In other words, the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is one thing, but honestly, our treasure hunt is more like "We Are in the Same Boat" (the famous humorous novel by British author J.K. Jerome, who wrote three A friend's amusing experience of a boat on the Thames, published in 1889 - Translator's Note). The road to Deborah Zion's Island was not as long as we were told, but our skiff took some time to get there nonetheless.The second boat docked, and I was the first to go to the island.I sprinted past the monks waiting to greet us, and disappeared into the bushes closest to me.When I emerged from there a few minutes later, I felt much better. I was back among the others, who were deep in conversation with the monks who greeted them.I saw several papyrus and reed boats moored on the shore of the lake, which looked exactly like the ones I saw on Lake Tana.I was about to ask a question about this when Johannes suddenly shouted excitedly, interrupting my train of thought: "Grimm, there is a strange situation here. These people seem to speak Tigray as their mother tongue." This is indeed very strange.We are now in the southern part of the province of Shoa, and people in this area speak Amharic.And Tigray is the language of the Axumites of the holy city and the people of Tigray Province - they are hundreds of miles to the north.I know from first-hand experience that in Ethiopia, religious differences (especially language differences) tend to have profound implications (sometimes to the point of sparking civil war).It is therefore a most surprising discovery that the native language of the monks of Deborah Zion Island was not Amharic. It later turned out that this phenomenon did not only happen to monks.We soon learned that all the inhabitants of the island, whether farmers or fishermen, used a dialect of Tigray for daily conversation, and only on rare occasions did they use Amharic (among them Many of you spoke poorly) - that's when government officials visited the island. We climbed the winding path to the top of a hill where the main church on Deborah Zion Island is located.I asked, "Why do you all speak Tigray?" The monks replied: "Because our ancestors came from Tigray." Johannes translated their words to us. "When did they come?" "About 1030 years ago." I made a quick calculation in my mind.Go back 1030 years from 1989 to 959 AD.I think it was the 10th century AD.In that century, Queen Gudit overthrew the Solomon lineage dynasty. It is said that in order to ensure the safety of the Ark of the Covenant, the priests secretly transported it out of the city of Axum and sent it to the island of Deborah Zion.I hadn't actually interviewed any of the islanders before the legend that Belle Godet told me was starting to look a little plausible. "Why did they come to this island?" I continued to ask, "Please ask these monks to tell us how and why they came to this island." Johannes posed this question to the monks and translated their responses: "You know, their ancestors brought Talbot to this island. It was the time of Gudit's uprising. She was in Tigray The province attacked the Christians. There was a lot of fighting. They were hiding from Queen Gudit. They came to the island with Talbot." "Which Talbot?" "They said it was the Talbot of St. Mary's Church on Mount Zion in Axum." "Does this refer to the Talbot that Menelik brought back to Ethiopia from Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant, or to some other Talbot? I must be absolutely sure of that." We took the trouble to translate my questions to the monks as we made our way up the steep hilltop.He argued with the monks some more, and finally said to us, "I don't think they even know it very well, but they say it's written down...it's all in a book. That book is kept in this church. They also said we should go and discuss the whole thing with their senior monks." stolen history Five minutes later, we came to the church.It did not surprise me much that it was called the Church of St. Mary of Mount Zion.The church was built with tree sticks and mud, unpretentious, with whitewashed exterior walls and a cross at the top of the church.However, the church stands on the top of the hill. From this excellent location, we can roughly overlook the whole picture of the big island.Behind us, in the direction we had come, was a path winding through distant fields dotted with the dilapidated huts of the peasants.The ground ahead of us passed through a grove of acacias and cacti, and sloped down steeply towards the lake. Now, that senior monk, Abba Gebra Christos, appeared.He is not tall, and although his body is thin, he is very strong, and he looks nearly 70 years old.His thinning beard is gray and white.He was wearing a shabby two-piece robe with a long white cotton belt in the traditional plateau style over his shoulders.His demeanor was rather friendly and genial, but he had an air of cunning and shrewdness, which gave me the feeling that he was about to open his mouth to negotiate a price with us. I fumbled nervously at the greasy roll of Ethiopian birr notes in my pocket, which I had tucked away before I left Addis Ababa.My intention is that I will only pay if I get quality information.Next, I tried to look as nonchalant as possible, turned on the tape recorder, and asked the first question, asking the old monk if he knew the story of Menelik's abduction of the Ark of the Covenant from Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. "Yes," translated Johannes, "of course he does." "Does he know what happened next?" The old monk replied: "Menelik brought the Ark to Ethiopia, and the Ark has been in Ethiopia to this day." I asked, "Is he sure that this is the real Ark of the Covenant, the one with the commandment tablets on which are written the Ten Commandments in God's own handwriting?" Johannes translated my question, and Abba Gebra Christos replied solemnly, "Yes, I am sure." "Very well. Now please tell me...was this real Ark ever sent to Lake Ziwai, to this island of Deborah Zion?" "Yes," replied the old monk, "the Ark of the Covenant was brought here from Axum during Queen Gudit's time." "But why was it sent here?" I asked. "I mean, why here? Why did it take such a long way? There must be hundreds of other secret locations in Tigray where the Ark of the Covenant can be hidden." Well." "Listen to me... this Gudit... she is a devil. She burned a lot of churches in Tigray province. She also burned churches in other provinces of Ethiopia. There was heavy fighting everywhere and it was very dangerous. We Her ancestors were very afraid that she would steal the Ark of the Covenant. So they secretly sent the Ark of the Covenant out of the city of Axum and brought it to Lake Ziway, where they knew it was safe. They only left at night and hid in forests and caves during the day I tell you, they were terrified! But after all, they escaped Gudit's men in this way, and sent the Ark of the Covenant to Lake Ziwai, and to this island." "Do you know how long the Ark has been on this island?" Abba Gebera Christos replied without hesitation: "It was kept on the island for 72 years before being transported back to Axum." Now, I guess, is the time to ask that $64,000 question. "Is there another time," I asked tentatively, "for the sake of safety, the Ark of the Covenant was sent here again? Maybe recently?" The old monk replied without hesitation, "Never." "So, as far as you know, the Ark of the Covenant is still in Axum?" "yes." "Even now? Fighting is happening all over Tigray." He shrugged. "I think so. But that's just my opinion. To know the truth, you have to ask the people in Axum." I had another idea. "When we came," I said, "some of the monks told us that you had an ancient book in which the Ark of the Covenant was brought to the Isle of Deborah Zion in the time of Gudit. Are they right? Do you have such a book?" Johannes translated my question, and the dull expression on Abba Gebera Christos's face changed suddenly, as if he had just tasted something sour.However, he replied preparedly: "Yes, there is a book." "Can we take a look?" The old monk hesitated for a moment, then said, "Yes...but those pages about the Ark are gone." "Sorry. I don't understand. What the hell are you trying to say?" "About 20 years ago, someone came here and cut those pages out of the book. Those pages were the story of the Ark of the Covenant." "Is this man a foreigner, or an Ethiopian?" "Oh, he's Ethiopian. But we haven't found any trace of him since then." As I savored the meaning of this reply, I could not help thinking how strange, how mysterious, and how intricate the investigation I was now engaged in was.Is it my business that an unknown person has clipped innumerable pages from an unknown book?Does it have nothing to do with me?Am I following in another man's footsteps in pursuit of the ark?Is this man I heard a collector of ancient manuscripts in Ethiopia who made a fortune in the antique market 20 years ago by selling a few pages of illustrated ancient manuscripts? I'm afraid I'll never figure these things out.As it turned out, the pursuit of the Ark in Ethiopia was more daunting and difficult than I had imagined.In fact, it's like tracking down a ghost in a maze.From a distance, it looks like a thoroughfare, but from a close look, it turns out to be some impassable dead ends.On the contrary, some blind alleys from a distance have automatically turned into accessible paths more than once. I sighed, turned my thoughts back to the present, and said to Abba Gebera Christos, "Even if the most important pages are gone, I'd still like to see the pages he mentioned. an ancient book." I also asked him if he would allow us to take some photos of the book. The proposal immediately elicited a wave of nervous disapproval.No, said the old monk, he could not allow us to do that.Absolutely no photography is allowed without written permission from the Ethiopian Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Addis Ababa.The old monk asked if we had such a license. No, we don't. Well, unfortunately, we can't photograph that ancient book.However, we can take a look at it if we want. I appreciate this little accommodation.Abba Gebra Christos nodded understandingly and led us into his chapel, to a chest in front of the back wall of the shabby building.What followed was a perfect pantomime: he rummaged through his pockets for the key to the cabinet, and after a while he admitted he couldn't find it. He called a young deacon and asked him to go somewhere. Ten minutes later, the boy came back out of breath, clutching a large bunch of keys, at least 20.He tried the keys one by one, trying to unlock the cabinet.Finally, the cabinet door was opened, which surprised me.However, the cabinet is almost empty, and the only book is only written in the early 20th century, which was donated to the church by the daughter of Menelik II, Princess Living Ditu. At this moment, Abba Gebera Christos suddenly remembered an important situation: the manuscript we wanted to see was not in the church at all.He had taken it himself to the storage room a few weeks ago.The storage room and the church are not in the same place, far away from the church.If we like, we can follow him to the storeroom to see the book. I looked at my watch. It was not yet time for us to leave the island.Seeing that there was enough time, I agreed to go to the storage room with the old monk.We walked a long way with difficulty, and finally came to a rather dilapidated two-story stone building.The old monk graciously let us into a dark and dusty back room.There are more than a dozen wooden boxes and a few tin boxes with fancy paints in front of the four walls of the house.After hesitating for a moment, he walked to a box and opened the lid, revealing a stack of books in the box.He picked up the top book, which was thick and heavy, with pages of parchment.He handed me the book. I opened the book, and Richard Pankhurst and Johannes surrounded me.They recognized it right away: the book was written in Jezewen.It can't help but be very old.Richard said: "Judging by the style of the illustrations and the binding, I would imagine it to be a second-century book. It is certainly not later than the 14th century. It goes without saying that it is indeed an ancient book and could be of great value." We eagerly turned the pages, but found no sign of missing pages.In our opinion, the book is intact.We pointed this out to Abba Gebera Christos.He was standing there without saying a word, looking at us.We asked him if he was absolutely sure that this was the ancient book he was referring to? As it turns out, this isn't that book.The old monk apologized repeatedly, then rummaged through several other boxes, showing us one ancient manuscript after another in turn. "It's so interesting," said Richard, "it's a treasure trove of so many ancient books. But they're just piled up here in a mess. They get wet, they get stolen, you name it. Happening. I hope we can transfer all the books here to the Institute." The last ancient book we saw was the Acts of the Apostles in Ethiopian, with wooden bindings and beautiful illustrations.It's also intact.When this was over, Richard nudged me and said, "I don't think we're getting anywhere here." I nodded, "I think you're right. It's really getting late, let's go, or we'll have to cross the entire Lake Ziwai in the dark." However, before leaving, I asked Johannes to try one last time and find out from the old monk: Is the ancient book that records the story of the ark of the covenant here? Of course it is here.Abba Gebera Christos still insists that of course it is here.The problem is that he forgot which box he put it in.If we can wait, just wait a little longer, and he's sure he'll find it... I think it's best to decline the offer.It seemed to me that the old man was trying to put us off on purpose, and if so, it probably meant he was hiding something.what to hide?I don't think it's the Ark itself.Not even the ancient book that can't be found anywhere.However, he was clearly hiding something. Confused and somewhat annoyed, I walked back to the jet ski.We said goodbye to the monks on the island.The boat then sailed back on the calm waters of Lake Ziwai.It was still an hour before sunset. I wrote in my notebook: There is no point in spending any more time exploring Deborah Zion Island.After interviewing the monks and the senior monk, I know with certainty that the importance of the island is entirely due to several ancient legends about the Ark of the Covenant.In general, these legends seem to confirm what Belle Godet told me in a long-distance call with me, that is: the Ark of the Covenant was sent to Deborah Zion Island in the 10th century. Avoiding captivity by Gudit, it remained on the island for about 70 years before being returned to the city of Axum. The fact that the mother tongue of all the islanders is Tigray, not Amharic, is strong "social" evidence in support of the oral histories I've heard, since the only plausible explanation for this ethnographic feature is : In ancient times, there was indeed a population migration movement from Axum to Deborah Zion Island.A reason as vital and urgent as the safe removal of the Ark of the Covenant must have caused such a population transfer.What's more, if the Ark of the Covenant was indeed kept on the island for 70 years before being sent back to Axum, it would be easy to understand why some descendants of the original immigrants would prefer to stay on the island, the only home they knew.This may have enabled them to preserve the folklore of those glorious events in those days, to which their ancestors were connected. I have spent most of this afternoon listening to this folklore, and in the process I have discovered some fascinating mysteries of the island.However, I have not found any evidence that the Ark is indeed on the island today.On the contrary, I can safely say: the Ark is not on the island.Not only that, the Ark of the Covenant has not been on the island for at least 500 years. The same is true for Lake Tana.From this point of view, a very clear conclusion is that the city of Axum is still the most likely place where the cabinet is located.In other words, I will have to go to Axum whether I want to or not.The best time of course is during Epiphany in January, when I can see the Ark up close without having to go into a church chapel.Bruce also went to Axum during Epiphany in 1770, perhaps for the same reason. I closed my notebook and looked up at Richard and Johannes.I asked them: "In your opinion, is it possible for the government to regain Axum by January next year? I really want to be there on time to visit next year's Epiphany." Johannes didn't speak.Richard grimaced: "Good idea. I think you might as well be going to fly to the moon." "Never mind," I said, "I'm just talking." It was dark when our motorboat docked at the Ministry of Fisheries pier.When we returned to the suburbs of Addis Ababa, it was nearly 10 o'clock in the evening.We asked the driver to drop us off at Johannes' office building downtown, since we had parked there in the morning. With two hours until curfew, we decided to grab a quick bite at a nearby restaurant.However, when we stepped off the SUV, we heard a long whistle of automatic rifles, which seemed to be coming from the residential area across the road.A few seconds later, there were two more echoes from a different weapon.Then there was silence all around. "What's going on here?" I asked. "Probably nothing major," Richard said. "There have been isolated incidents since the attempted coup...a ​​shot here, a shot there. Nothing serious at all." "Nevertheless," said Johannes heavily, "I think we'd better not go to supper. Let's go our separate ways." Back at the Hilton Hotel, I slept soundly. fingerprint of race The next day is Friday, November 24th.In the morning, I woke up before 7 o'clock. I took a shower, ate breakfast, and called Shmelis Mazenga's office.The Politburo member had asked Richard and me to report to him after our visits to Lake Tana and Lake Ziwai.Now, his secretary told me she had been waiting for my call and had arranged for us to meet with Schmelis at 3 o'clock that afternoon. I am very happy with this arrangement.Although Richard was not optimistic, I decided to make a request to visit the Epiphany in Axum when I met Schmidt.I left the hotel and drove to the Ethiopian Institute. My investigation on Wednesday the 22nd has confirmed that the route of Menelik mentioned in "The Glory of the King" and the old monk of Tana Chikes Island is credible, that is, along the Nile River and the Tekeze River to enter Ethiopia.现在我想做的事情，是检验一个假说是否合理——证实了那条路线可信以后，这个假说已经在我头脑中大致形成。 我想，如果门涅利克一行确实是沿着特克泽河把约柜带到了塔纳·奇克斯岛，那就意味着他们也把犹太人的信仰带到了埃塞俄比亚。 我认为，如果传说还有几分真实性，那么，法拉沙人传统的聚居中心就应当在特克泽河与塔纳湖之间，因为正是在这个地区，门涅利克才第一次使当地人改信了犹太教。但是，如果传说是假的，我就应当发现法拉沙人的聚居中心在别的地方，很可能更往北而靠近红海（因为正统的学术观点认为，是来自也门的犹太移民，使法拉沙人的先祖改信了犹太教）。 我首先翻阅了詹姆斯·布鲁斯的著作，他论述法拉沙人的早期著作已经给我留下了深刻的印象。从他的《1768-1773年寻找尼罗河源头之旅》第三卷中，我知道这位苏格兰探险家用了整整一章的篇幅，对18世纪的埃塞俄比亚进行了可以大致称为"社会地理学"方面的介绍。对这一章的内容我虽然记得不是很清楚，但我还是希望其中有谈到当时法拉沙人的主要聚居地的段落。 我并没有失望。布鲁斯当年的考察从埃塞俄比亚北方开始——即从其红海港口马萨瓦开始，然后向内地延伸。他提到了几个民族，却并没提到厄立特里亚和提格雷省的法拉沙人。不过，"过了特克泽河以后"，这个国家便向西南部延伸，一直到塔纳湖。对这片地区，布鲁斯做了如下的叙述： 其大部分都居住着犹太人，当地人说，他们那里的国王 和王后属于犹太支脉，他们依然维持着古老的君主制和极为 古老的宗教信仰。 布鲁斯的这部著作发表后大约80年，19世纪的德国传教士马丁·福拉德也记载了类似的人口分布状况，并提到法拉沙人分布在埃塞俄比亚的14个省里，它们全都位于"特克泽河以西"。 接着，我又翻阅了现代的资料，它们也描绘了一幅同样的画面。埃塞俄比亚的绝大多数犹太人都居住在特克洋河以西，那是他们的传统家园，自远古以来他们就一直居住在那片地区。一篇格外详尽的权威论文里还有一幅地图，上面把法拉沙人居住的所有地区都涂上了阴影：这些地区形成了一条狭长的地带，从特克泽河向西南延伸，穿过希缅山区和贡德尔城，然后不间断地继续延伸，包围了整个塔纳湖。 要支持我的假说，恐怕很难找到比这个地区更有说服力的佐证了。约柜曾出现在塔纳·奇克斯岛，这个情况为这个地区增添了独一无二的分量。恰恰就在这个地区，聚居当地的阿比西尼亚人改信了《旧约》中的犹太教信仰。 根据我自己的研究（见本书第六章），我开始对学术界的见解产生了几分怀疑——它认为，犹太人的信仰最初是公元70年以后从也门传入埃塞俄比亚最北部的。 到目前为止，我对这种见解的不满主要来自它无法解释一点，即为什么法拉沙人的信仰和祭礼仪式极为古老（见本书第六章）。现在，人种学的证据对"也门来源说"提出了更有力的质疑：在地图上，法拉沙人的聚居区如同一个令人信服的明显指纹，它证明，所罗门的宗教只能从西面进入埃塞俄比亚，即沿着尼罗河和特克泽河提供的那条著名的古代商旅之路，经由埃及和苏丹，进入该国。 耐心是美德 正好下午3点钟，理查德和我如约与施麦利斯·马赞加见了面。这位政治局委员首先想听听我们塔纳湖和济瓦伊湖之行的经过。我们是否成功？是否发现了什么？ 我回答说，我们在塔纳·奇克斯岛的发现，我们在岛上听到的那些奇特的古老传说，都深深地影响了我的思考。我现在几乎可以肯定，这个地区就是约柜在埃塞俄比亚的第一个安放地，后来约柜才被送到了阿克苏姆城。 "这么说，您真的相信约柜就在我国了？"施麦利斯微笑着问。 "我越来越相信这一点了。证据在不断地增加……"我迟疑了一下，又反问道，"您怎么看？" "我想阿克苏姆的礼拜堂里有件不同寻常的东西。注意：它不一定是约柜，但它很特别。它是个古老的传说。不能完全忽视它。" 我提出下一个问题时有几分迟疑，但还是说："如果我的问题太冒失，那请您原谅，可我不得不问。在最近的将来，政府方面是否可能收复阿克苏姆？" "您为什么要提这个问题呢？" "因为，我想我必须亲自到那里去一趟。说实话，我打算到那里去参观下一个主显节。" "您是说明年1月份吗？" I nodded. "不可能，"施麦利斯干脆地说，"再说，您何必这么着急呢？您的见解如果正确的话，那么，约柜已经在我国放了3000年了。再过一年，至多再过两年，我们会收复阿克苏姆。我可以向您保证，到时候您将是第一个进入阿克苏姆的外国人。还是耐心等等吧，您会有机会的。" 我不得不承认他这个建议非常合理。在埃塞俄比亚这样的国家，耐心几乎总是一种美德。不过，我可不想等上两年。因此，我暗自决定不在1990年1月去阿克苏姆，而在1991年1月去。施麦利斯表示的信心给我的印象很深，我也非常希望到那时候政府会重新控制这座圣城。但同时我也想到（这只是以防万一），我或许也应该和TPLF展开某种对话。我到目前为止一直在规避反政府方面，但现在看来，在他们那方面做些铺垫工作，这可能对我有好处。 我望着办公桌对面的施麦利斯，说："您当然说得很对。可是，您能不能再帮我个忙？" 政治局委员做了个明显的肯定手势，示意我说下去。 "我还是想去参观主显节，"我继续说，"因为根本不可能去阿克苏姆，所以我想在1月份去贡德尔城。" "为什么去贡德尔？"施麦利斯问道。 "因为它在塔纳湖地区，我说过，我认为这个地区与约柜在贵国的早期历史密切相关。这还因为，我知道目前有好多法拉沙人还住在贡德尔城里和附近一带。我记得在1983年曾经路过城北几个犹太人的村子，不过当时我没有机会正式采访他们。所以，您如果批准，我的打算就是一举两得。我要去参观贡德尔的主显节。到那儿以后，我还要在法拉沙人中间做些考察。" "这是有可能的，"施麦利斯回答说，"这要看军事局势如何。不过，您的打算还是有可能实现的。我先想想办法，然后再通知您。"